Latch fastener



Aug.- 12, 1930. H. A. BORRESEN LATCH FASTENER r 1,925 2 Sheets-Sheet lFiled March 16 50 .Zravfaf Helge 50W/@56m @y Q0 j Aug 12, 1930 H. A.BoRRx-:sEN 1,772,854

LATCH FASTENER Filed March 16, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 millillllllllli"Il" ima-73.75%

MMM. f@ Mw 90W@ Patented Aug. 12, 1930 CORPORATION, OF CAMBRIDGE, sETTsI'IlliIiG-VE A. BORRESEN,` CHICAGO, ILLNOS, ASSGNOB. TO UNITED-CARRFASTNER MAsseOHusnTTs, a CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- LATOH vFASTENERApplication led March 16, 1925. Serial No. 15,848.

My invention relates to latch fasteners and more particularly to a.fastener comprising a pair of separable members, one of which has alocking member that is adapted to engage the other member to hold said`members locked together. f

Reference is hereby made to my co-pending application Serial No.607,345, filed December 16, 1922, Which application contains claimsgeneric to the type of fastenerillustrated and described in my presentapplication. However, it is my intention'to claim in the presentapplication, both `broadly .and specifically, improvements hereinfdisclosed over my earlier tiled application.

it is a purpose of my invention toprovide a fastener oi' the abovementioned character that is provided with ay locking member that isadapted to engagea headed member, said locking member being mounted in ahousing and being slidable into and vout of locking engagement- Withthey headed member. y f

it is a further purpose of my invention to provide a fastener of theabovedrmentioned character havinga one piece housing'comprising a iangedfront portion and a `rear cover portion connected together by a reducedportion acting as a hinge during closing of said housing. f Y

It is still a further purpose of my inven-V tion to provide a ydevice'ofthe above men-l tioned character comprising a locking mem-4 ber orlatch that is adapted tobeautomati-Y cally moved to unlockingposition byengage ment of the material upon Which the same is mounted 'With aportion of the latch or locking member to move said latch or lockingmember to ,unlocking position. Y 2

It is anotherV purpose of the invention to provide a device of the abovementioned character in which the locking' means is held in lockingposition by means of a spring or other resilient member wherein saidspring or other resilient member is initially tensioned in as-k semblingthe device. j

Itis also a purpose of the inventionto provide aA device ofthe abovementioned charac-Y ter in which the .locking latch is formed of aportion of the-,spring to thus providea simple and cheap, yet efficientconstruction.

It is a particular purpose of my invention to provide means wherebysaid'spring or other resilient means is automatically tensioned inassembling the device, saidrautomatic tensioning beingpreferablyvaccomplished by providing a One-piece housing having portionsthat are adapted to assume positions opposite each other when thehousing is in assembled or closed position, one of the portions of thehousing receiving the locking member and the otherwhaving means forholding the spring or other resilient member so that when said portionsare brought into opposed relationship, the ends of the spring Willbeimoved relative to each other so as to tension the same. In thepreferred lform, the locking member is provided with a'projectionreceiving one end of the spring and the one portion of the housing isprovided With a pair of hook-like projections over which the other endof the spring is hooked when the housing is in open position. Then byswinging the portion of Vthe housing having thehook-A like projectionstoward thefother portion of the housing and toward the locking memberin' assembling the device, theA ends of the spring are brought closertogether, placing the same under initial tensionfautomatically. Thisgreatly reduces the cost of thefdevice.' It is another purpose ofmyl'invention to provide a fastener comprisinga headedmember having anenlargement Yadjacent the 'base thereof that is adapted to be receivedin' a recess in the housing of the member carrying the locking means toprevent movement of lie housing transversely of the headed memer. l

It is also a purpose of the invention to pro' vide a locking member thatis in sliding Vengagement Withthe inner face ofY the housing so that anystrains on the locking member are transmitted directly to thehousing. Itis another purpose of my invention to provide va `fastener of the above.mentioned character that has asocket member secured to one member'whichthe fastener is intended to secure to another member and a devicecarrying a locking latch providedrwith a projecting portionl having ahook-like formation thereon adapted to enter said socket and lock 25accompanying 5 acter having a socket portion that is undercut or whichhas an overhanging lip portion with which the hook-like projectionadapted to engage to secure the parts together.

It is still another purpose of the invention lo to provide the hook-likeprojection on a slidlaua. +11 .f y

ably nieuiieetfiecki g-ineinb i that is mounted within a housing, saidlocking member being held in locking position by suitable resilientmeans and being movable out of locking position by movement of a portionof the housing.

It is another purpose of the invention to provide a locking member ofthe above mentioned character movable out of locking engagement with thesocket member by movement of the housing which is also movableindependently of the housing.

Other objects and advantages of the iiivention will appear as thevdescription of the drawings proceeds. However I desire to have itdistinctly7 understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the exactdetails shown or described, butI that l intend to include as part 'of myinvention all such obvious changes and modifications of parts as wouldoccur to a person skilled in this art and as would fall within the scopeof the claims.

Fig. 1 is a face view in elevation of one form of my improved fastenershowing a fragment of the material upon which the same is mounted;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation similar to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the headed member forming a portion ofthe separable fastener showing a fragment of the material upon which thesame is mounted;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken substantially onthe line Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig.et;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank from 70 which the housing of myimproved 'fastener is made;

Fig. 7 is a view showing the housing in open position as the spring isassembled therewith;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the locking t .l form of the inventionshown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a face view in elevation of a socket member with which themember shown in Fig. 1() is adapted to cooperate showing a fragment ofthe materialiupon F which the socket member is mounted;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in transverse section of themember shown in Fig. 10 showing a fragment of the socket member inco-operating relation therewith;

Fig. 13 is av section taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12 on a reducedscale;

Fig. 14C is a rear face view of my improved fastener with the outerportion of the housing removed;

Fig. 15 is ay plan view of the blank from whph Hm mnvnhle member of thehousing is made;

Fig. 16 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a studprovided with a socket member with which the member shown in Fig. 10co-operates;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the locking member employed in thedevice shown in Fig. 12; f

Fig. 18 is a face view of the stud shown in Fig. 1G viewed from the leftend thereof;

Fig. 19 is a side elevation of the movable housing member before thesame is closed;

Fig. 2O is a view similar to Fig. 15 of a modification Fig. 21 is a viewpartly in plan and partly in section of said modification; and

Fig. 22 is ay fragmentary side view of a portion of the spring latchemployed.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive is showna fastener comprising a housing having the top wall portion 20 and thebottom or rear wall portion 21. YSaid housing is formed from a blanksuoli as that shown in Fig. 6, the portion in dicated by the numeral 20in Fig. 6 representing the portion of the blank forming the top of thehousing, and the portion bearing the numeral 21 that forming the backcover or rear 21 of the housing. The top forming portion is formed witha flange forming the side wall portions of the housing and the portions2O and 21 are connected by means of a reduced portion 96 acting as ahinge to permit swinging of the cover 21 toward the flanged body portion2O to close the housing.` Co-operating with the housing is a back plate23 which is secured to the housing by means of the prongs 24 and 25projecting from the housing which ai'e clinched over the plate 23, aswill be clear from Figs. 2 and Ll, said prongs being preferably mountedin recesses 26 in the plate 23. Then the housing and the plate 23 aresecured together, the supporting material 27 is clinched between saidhousing and said back plate, said plate 23 being provided with anupturiied curved peripheral liange portion 28 engaging said material,thus avoiding any sharp edges at the periphery of the plate 23.

Mounted within the housing is a slidable latch or locking member 29which is adapted to slidably engage the inner face of the top 2O of thehousing. An upstruck projection 30 pra is provided on the member 29adjacent the elongated opening 31. The projection 30 Vis arcuate,as'will be clear from Fig. 5, yand is concavo-convexly curved as will beclear from Figs. 4 and 5, but is provided with a substantially flatsurface 32 at which vthe shoulder 33 on the under face of the roundedhead 34 provided on the stud 35 is adapted to engage, said stud 35 beingprovided with a threaded portion 36 screw-threadedly engaging asupporting member 37. It will be seen that the opening 31 accommodatesthe head 34 of the stud and permits slidingv move'- ment of theloclingmember 29 transversely ofthe stud 35.

Said locking member is provided withr a pair of shoulders v38 thatareadapted to engage with the side wall portions 22 adjacent the opening 39inthe side wall portion of the housing. j The reduced shank portion 40ofthe locking member extends through the opening 39 and is held inclosed'engagement with the top 2O of the housing due to the provision ofthe depending'fiange or lip 41 provided on the rear wall 21 of saidhousing leaving only a slot slightly larger than the portion 40 of themember 29 vthrough which said portion 40 projects. The projectingportion of the member 29 terminates in a curved transverse head portion42 which yis curved both transversely7 and longitudinally, as will beclear from Figs. 4 and 5 so as to provide a rounded surface forengagement by the materialV 27 whereby the slidable locking member orlatch 29 can be moved in a direction to move the overhanging lip portion30 away from the head 34 of the stud 35 to disengage saidloclring memberfrom said-head. The locking member has a rearward projection 43 that isadapted to engage with the wall 'portion 22 to limit the unlockingmovement of the locking member 29.

The lockingmember is normally held with the shoulders 38 in engagementwith the wall portions 22 andwith the lip portion 32 in engagement withthe rear face 33 of the head 34 by means'of the spring having the curvedportion of relatively large radius 34 engagingV with the projection 30on the locking member 29 and having a portion of sharper curvature 35joining the portion 34 with similar portion of relatively greaterlcurvature 46 which joins the portion v47r lying substantially parallelto the side wall portion of the -housing and which spring is providedwith a transversely extending substantially7 straight portion 48connected with `the portion 47 by the abrupt bendv 49.- The spring ispreferably put under initial tension so as to always exert a springpressure on the locking member when the device is assembled. The holdingmeans for the straight portion 48 of the spring is so arranged that thespring will be automatically tensioned during assembly of the device. I

It will be noted upon reference to Fig. 6 that a pair of prongsl 50 ispunched out of the material of the rear portion 21 of the housing. Theprongs 50 are in the position shown in Fig.. 7 when the rear portion 21of the housing is bent partly over toward the front portion 20 thereof.Said prongs Vthen serve as hooksin back of which the straight portion48y of the spring may be placed, said portion being then confinedbetween the springs 50 and the wall 21. As the rear wall 21 is swungfurther toward the top forming portion 2O to close the housing, theprongs 50 and the straight portion 48 of the spring are moved toward theleft in Fig. 7 or toward th-e projection 30. This continues until therear portion 21 of the housing is substantially parallel with the frontportion 2O thereof. At this time, the prongs will be in the positionshown in Fig. 4 and the spring will be under tension due to thefact thatthe distance between the portions 44 and 48 thereof will have beenmaterially decreased causing the' portion 46 to move away from theportion 44. The prongs 50 now act as an abutment to prevent the movementofthe portion 48 of the spring toward thefwall portion 22 of thehousing.

The rear plate23 is provided with an A.annular depression or recess 51within which the enlargement 52 on the studv 35 is adapted to seat toprevent transverse displacement of the housingV relative to the stud,the projection of the enlargement 52 within the recess in the member 23being limited due to the overhanging lip portion 53 with which themember 52 engages. The member 52 is preferably made hexagonal so as toserve as means for engagement of a tool therewith to screw the stud intopositionr in the member 37. A L

guiding linger or projection 54 is also provided on the member 23 thatenters the elongated opening 55 provided in the member 21, said lingeror projection 54 acting to guide the head of the stud 34 in itsmovements into and out of engagement with the member 30 and preventcatching of the same on the member 21. Upon reference to Fig. 5, it willbe seen that the projection 30 is provided with a curved edge portion 55adjacent the stud 35, this preventing any sliding of the latch memberout of locking position under the head of the stud. i

lnFigs. 9 to 18 inclusive another form of my invention is shown in whicha housing having a top wall portion having a depending peripheral flange61 and a back cover or rear wall portion 62 is provided. The top wallportion is preferably completely closed and the bottom wall portion 62is provided with a pair of parallel slots 63, a rectangular opening G4and a slightly oblong opening 65. This is vclearly shown in Fig. 15 inwhich the blank from which the housing is made iii) lil

Y wlicliearewbent over onY op is shown. From Fig. 15, it will be seenthat a reduced portion or tongue 97 connects the portions 60. and 62 ofthe blank and serves as a l'iin'gel as they cover' 62 is swung touardthe flanged bodyk portion 60. y

Mounted within the housing for sliding movement relative thereto is thelocking member 66. A base plate 67 is secured to the bottom of thehousing 62 by means of the ears 68 that extend through the slots-v 63and tesides-.ofthe rlie ears 68 in its` sliding of the houslockingmember or latch 66. guide the locking'- member moven'ients on the bottom62 ing.

Said locking member is provided with a projection 69 having a hoololilrcend= por 76 that is adapted to engage with the overhanging lipportion 71provided on the socket member 72, said' lip portion being preferablyannular. The socket member 72 preferallily projects from a base 78tbatcarries 'theprongs 74l forv securing the saine to any suitable mount-ingmateriala7 The socket member 72 is shown in. Fig. 11 as being providedwith such a base for securing the same to a piece of flexible material'.Sometimes, however, it is desirable to provide a socket member that canbe secured in a framework member of any automobile or similar part andfor this purpose, the arrangement sho vn inl 16 and 18 may be used inwhich the screw niember 76 is provided with a head having al exagonalportion 77 and provided with a. socket portion 78 having anoverha-.nging lip portion 79 which is preferably annular in form asdescribed inv connection with the lip portion 71. rllhe hoolc-lilremember would en.- gage with the lip portion 79 of the member 76 in thesame manner as it engages with the lip portion 71 ofv the member 72.

The slidable locking member 66 further provided with a depending. flangeor lip 8() which' passes. through the opening 6'1- and which limits themovement of the locking member relative tothe housing in bothdirections. The member 66 is further provided with a prong or a lipportion 81 extending in the opposite direction to the flange or lipwhich isturned over indicated in Figs. 12 and 13 so as to secure one endof the spring 82 to said member 66. The spring 82 is provided with aplurality of bends, as will be clear from Fig. 13, three such bendsbeing provided therein.. The opposite end of the spring 82 is secured tothe base n'iember 67 by means of the prong 83 extending upwardlytherefrom and bent over said spring 82 as shown in Fig. 12. The prong orhook 88 e ztends through the openingA 64, as will be clear from Figs. 12and 13. A pair of rearwardly extending lingers8et is also provided onthe member 66, said' fingers extending' on opposite sides of the opening64 and passing on opposite sides of the prong 83.

The base member 67 is-provided with a plurality of prongs which passthrough suitable openings 89 in the washer or baclr plate 86, thematerial 87 to which the fastener is secured being clamped between themembers 67 and 86. Said prongs preferably lie in recesses-88 in themember 86 so as tobe flush with the surface thereof.

The annular groove 91 is providedl on the washer or plate 86 toaccommodate the enlargement 77 -on the stud 01.` the. rib .9.0. .011 themember 73. The member 67 is, of course, provided with an oblong opening92 through Vwhich the projection 69 passes and the washer 86 is providedwith an open-ing 93 to accommodate the projection 69. An annularinturned flange 9e is provided on the mem-ber 86 to provide a recesswithin whichl the end of the socketmember 7 2' or 7 8 projects toprevent movement of the back plate 86 of the fastener and the portion 67of the housing relative thereto.

It will be seen from the above, that the hoololilre member 70y can bedisengaged from the li. p portion 71 by moving. the housing comP prisingthe'portion 60, 61 and 62 to the left in Fig. 12. The' movement of thehousing -will carry the locking member 66 along with the same due to thefact that the end of the rectangular opening 64 will enga-ge with thelip 80, the prongs or ears 68 sliding inthe slots 63 when this occurs,the length of the slots of course limiting the movement of the housingrelative to the base member 67. It is, however, unnecessary to move-thehousing to engage the hook-like member 701withy the socket member 72 or78 as the curved camlike face 95 will engagei with the lip 71 andWillmove the member 66 against the tension of the spring 82 bothrelative to the housing and the base plate 67, the lug or projection/80moving in the slot 64 when this occurs.

The length of the studY or projection 69 or the member 30 Will dependupon the4 thickness of the material 87, it heilig obvioust-ha-t a longerstud has to'be provided for thicker material as indicated in dottedlines at G9 i-n Fig. 17, or as indicated at 30 in Fig. 8..

In assembling the device the membersv 66 and 67 aswell as the Spring 82are assembled with back cover or rear wall portion 62, the sameextending substantially at right angle to the portion 60 at this time asshown infFig. 19. Then the housing; is closed by swinging the portion 62about the hinging portion 97 until the parts are in the position shownin Fig. 12.

In Figs. 20, 21 and 22 a modified construction of fastener is shown inwhich. the housing comprises the Vmain body forming portion and the rearwall or cover forming portion 101, these being connected4 together by areduced connecting portion 1024 as clearly shown in Fig. 20, this.figure showing; the blank. The body forming portion l160 is formed in adie so as to have the flange portion 103 t-hereon, the portion 102serving as a connecting hinge portion between the cover 101 and the bodyportion 100. The blank is further provided with a plurality of holdingprongs 104 that are adapted to engage with the material Vupon which themember is mounted for holding the same in place. The cover portion 101is provided with an oblong opening 104 through which the stud `106having the head 10i thereon extends.

A prong or nger 108 is provided on the cover member 101 which is adaptedto be engaged with the end porti-on 109 of the spring wire member 110 ina similar manner to which the prong engaged with the portion 48 of thespring in the device shown in Fig. 5. The spring wire member 110 has aportion forming substantially to the inner contour of the containerformed by the member 100 being spaced suciently therefrom to obtain thedesired action of the spring. Said member has an odset portion at 111that is adapted to engage with' the adjoining portion of the housing andwith a further outwardly 'offset portion 112 that serves as an operatingpor-V tion. From the oiiset portion 112, a sharply curved portion 113extends which is connected with the more gradually curved portion 114that is adapted to engage under the head 107 of the stud 106 So as 'tointerlock therewith the portion 114 serving as the latching portion'ofthe spring wire member 110, the latch 29 shown in Fig. 5 being disposedwith in this form of the invention.

in order to engage under the head of the stud, no matter Ywhat theextent of said head into the housing may be, the spring ywire member 110is suitably formed to engage under said head, being ozset to engagetherewith as indicated at 115 in Fig. 22 when this is necessary, theamount of offset being greater as indicated in dotted lines at 115, ifthe stud extends a shorter distance into the housing and being less asindicated at 115, if the stud extends a greater distance'into thehousing. The housing is provided with a lip portion 116 that extendstoward the cover 101 and a depending lip portion 117 that extends towardthe body portion 100, thus forming a guide for the odset portion 112which extends on opposite sides of said lips.

It will be evident from the above, ,that in the form shown in Figs. 20to 22 inclusive a very cheap and simple construction is obtained whichhas all the advantages of the SeparateY latch Vand spring but inY whichthe spring wire member formsa spring portion, an operating portion and alatching portion.

Having thus described my inventionwhat 1 desire to claim and secure byUnited States Letters Patent is:

1. A device of thecharacter describedcomprising aV headed member and amember adapted to engage saidL headed member, said :relationship toormx-the housing, ,a latch enlast member comprising a housing having anVaperture therein adapted: :to receive said gaging 'one of saidportions, a projection thereon, a spring engaging said projection andVmeans on one of said portions 'engaging Ysaid spring to tension thesamev when said portions, are brought into opposed relation- Ship.

3. A device of the ycharacter described, comprising a housing having topand bottom portions adaptedto be brought into opposed relationship toform the housing, a latch fiatly engaging one of said portions, aprojection thereon, a spring engaging said projection and means on saidlother portion engaging saidV spring to tension the same when saidportions are brought into opposed relationship.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having topand bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship tolorm the housing, a latch engaging one of said portions, a projectionthereon, a spring engaging said projection and prongs on said otherportion engaging said spring to tension the same when said portions arebrought into opposed relationship. l

5. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having topand bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship toform the housing, a latch engaging one of said portions, a yprojectionthereon,4 a spring engaging said projection and a pair of hook prongs onsaid other portion engaging said spring to tension the saine when saidportions are brought into opposed relationship. Y

6. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having topand bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship toform the housing, a latch '1 slidably engaging one of said portions, aprojection thereon, a spring having a bowed n end portion engaging saidprojection and prongs on'said other portion of said housing, said springhaving a portion engageable over said prongs before moving said portionso said housing into opposed relation, whereby said spring is tensionedwhen said opposed portions are moved into opposed relation.

6 Maasai 7 A device of the character described, comprising a housinghaving topand bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposedrelationship to form the housing, a latch slidably engaging one of saidportions, a projection thereon, co-operating means on said latch andhousing, for limiting the movement of said latch Within said housing, a

spring, having a bowed end portion engaging 10 said projection, andprongs on said other portion of said housing, said spring having aportion engageable over said prongs before moving said portions of saidhousing into opposed relation, Whereby said spring is tensioned whensaid opposed portions are moved into opposed relation.

8. A fastener of the character described comprising a housing, a latchin said housing, a spring controlling said latch, and a -30 headedmember adapted to be projected into said housing to engage With saidlatch, said latch having an offbset portion projecting to- Ward saidheaded member to engage under the head thereof, saidspring engaging said:35 offset portion and having a portion engag ing a side Wallofthehousing.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 6th day of MarchA. D. 1925.

HELGE A. BORRESEN.

